Monday, March 23, 2015

Cologne's Shrine to the Magi

March 23

In 1270 AD, Marco Polo wrote that he was shown the tombs of the Magi at Saveh, which is south of Tehran. However, a shrine to the three "kings" can be found today at the Cologne Cathedral, supposedly thanks to the efforts of Saint Helena, mother of Constantine I, who rescued their remains from Muslim territory and brought them to Constantinople and later to Milan.

In 1154 AD the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) moved the relics to Cologne. Sources vary, but Frederick is one of two credited for giving three crowns to the shrine, though King Otto is also considered by some as the donor around 1200 AD. Today, those three crowns continue to be depicted on the Cologne city Coat of Arms.

Other locations also claim to house the relics of the Magi, but it should be noted first that relics can be separated into several parts, and second, The idea of three "wise men" or Magi is traditional, based on the three gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. There may have been more, or only two. The Bible only mentions them as a group. So it is possible other relics exist.

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